Dustin Hoffman accuses movie industry of glamorizing gun violence

Dustin Hoffman has waded into the debate over American gun control laws by accusing movie directors of desensitizing audiences with a "fraudulent" depiction of real life violence and discriminating against actors who refuse to use firearms onscreen.

"The Graduate" star has spoken out in the aftermath of the devastating shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on December 14, when 20 young children and six adults were gunned down. The atrocity prompted calls for U.S. politicians to tighten the country's firearms laws to prevent another rampage, and also sparked debate over whether gun violence on the big screen is linked to the high number of shootings in America.

Hoffman insists he has always hated handling weapons onscreen and has only carried guns in a few of his movie roles, including "Straw Dogs," "Hook"and "Little Big Man," as he feels filmmakers shouldn't use violence to thrill viewers. The actor reveals his hatred of firearms began in the 1960s when a theatre colleague threatened to shoot him in a dispute over work.

"I have always felt passionate about the fact that the audience is identifying (with movie violence) in a very fraudulent way ... I don't find anything interesting about a gun. A gun is there to threaten or kill," he told NPR. "I don't think people understand what it's like to have a gun pointed at you. When it happened to me (it was) after Kennedy (U.S. President John F. Kennedy) had just been assassinated. I was in Boston. I remember thinking, 'I'm going to take a hit' and every second you are feeling the bullet go straight through you ... You're in immediate shock. I've never forgotten that feeling... It was a guy who was part of a theatre company on the producing end ... He came out and pointed this gun..."

Hoffman is convinced many filmakers use shooting scenes to bolster the plot because "the script is lacking," and don't convey the true horror of real life violence because "a gun is rarely used in film in a way that it feels like in life. It's simplified into being a cartoon experience."

He also fears actors are pushed into violent roles because their career will suffer if they refuse to handle weapons onscreen, adding, "If you are not holding a gun, and that is something I have always refused to do, then suddenly this person who was always offered leading roles, suddenly gets offered supporting parts then you ... start getting offered cameos..."

Fellow actor Denzel Washington recently admitted he will be choosing his movie roles more carefully in the aftermath of the Connecticut shooting, but both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Samuel L. Jackson have spoken out to insist movie violence has no correlation with real life issues.

jrs
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"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.", Will Durant

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.", Edmund Burke

The actor reveals his hatred of firearms began in the 1960s when a theatre colleague threatened to shoot him in a dispute over work.

If you are ever threatened in Real Life with a gun you'll definitely remember it!

I must agree with this statement:

... but both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Samuel L. Jackson have spoken out to insist movie violence has no correlation with real life issues.

There have been plenty of studies showing that "fake" violence is not linked to the real world. (Yes I know the detractors will say plenty of studies exist to show it is linked but look at the facts)

Human beings are wired to understand that difference. Not talking about the criminally insane here... about normal folks.

Someone made a point once along the lines that if "fake" movie violence leads to "real" violence then "fake" movie sex should be leading to "real" sex and America should be shagging their brains out... which of course isn't happening! I forget the analogy but it was pretty funny. Also consider the "movie industry" as a whole is 100 years old... you haven't seen a huge surge in violence over the last 100 years, it has been more recent.

Everyone tries to blame something because (a) it is convenient and (b) they don't want to take responsibility for the truth. America has lost its moral compass and that my friends is why our society is so violent. Everything else is secondary to this...

"Everyone tries to blame something because (a) it is convenient and (b) they don't want to take responsibility for the truth. America has lost its moral compass and that my friends is why our society is so violent. Everything else is secondary to this..."

Pookie, you are dead on, 100000% correct sir!!!!!!!!!

Enforcement, NOT Amnesty!!!!!!

"If they’re going to come here illegally, apply for & receive assistance through a corrupted Government agency encouraging this lawless behavior, work under the table & send billions of dollars each year back to their families in Mexico, while bleeding local economies dry, protest in our streets waving their Mexican flags DEMANDING rights, while I have to press ’1′ for English, then they need to be shipped back to where they came from!" -Chad Miller

Pookie you're right about the moral compass thing. Hollywood might have played a role in that.

Everybody tries to blame something else. They were showing this Chicago libtard on tv tonite blaming all the murders in Chicago on "global warming" Makes my head hurt to watch this BS.

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference- they deserve a place of honor with all that is good.”George Washington

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." George Washington

I'm trying to figure out why anybody gives a shit what any of this trash thinks. They're one step up from used car salesmen as to who I give a krap about. I don't even want the ones on 'my side' saying shit. STFU No on asked you. No on cares.
I KNOW WHAT 'SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED' MEANS. Guns aren't for hunting ducks. They're for hunting POLITICIANS.
And any of you that say calm down, you're upsetting the opposition, PHUQUE EWE. Grows some stones and speak the truth. These miscreants want to eat you from the belt down, and you're saying 'Wait, just eat up to my ankles.
THERE CAN BE NO COMPRIMISE. If I tell you I want to do your wife and daughter 100 times a month, and you tell me 'No' and I say 'OK, just your wife and only 50 times a month, HELL see what I've given up? and you haven't compromised at all yet.
THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE. What we've given up in just my lifetime is unbelieveable. There can be no more.
Freedom is like a cookie. No matter how big the cookie, the more you let the trash take little bites out of it.......Well soon, there ain't no more cookie.
Hunter